  Mystery
This week: Sleuths - Where Do We Find them? Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Alan Poe
If there were no mystery left to explore
life would get rather dull, wouldn't it?
Sidney Buchman
Welcome to this week's edition of the Mystery Newsletter. A mystery by nature is a question in search of an answer - a puzzle! And when we uncover the answer to the question, effectively solving the puzzle moments before the writer gives us the solution, follow clues tactile and cerebral, the momentary satisfaction is sublime! And we have fun along the way .
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Greetings, fellow puzzlemasters. As writers, I think you will agree that from readers and other writers, the number one question is, 'Where do your ideas come from?"
Question number 2, for writers of mystery in particular, quickly follows - "Where do you find your sleuth, and the 'bad guy', and the other characters that people your puzzle, create the mystery?" That's what I'd like to explore today.
We want to make our characters, in particular our sleuth or protaognist, antagonist(s), perhaps a sidekick and a couple interacting characters, vivid and memorable. If our readers don't care about the characters who people our mysteyr, can't empathize, sympathize or feel any passion for or against them, they won't care to solve the puzzle. Think of Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple. Yes, I'm an Agatha Christie fan, but she did create these memorable characters who live on, engaging generations of readers; don't you agree? Or maybe it's Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone? I'm sure you've a number of friends (or enemies) you've each encountered while reading who remain in the back of your mind, ready to visit.
So, we look to create characters who are engaging, whom we want to know and, by extenison, our readers will want to know. So, where do we find these characters? Do we imagine them; find them in the ether? Most likely not. Even if they are from another culture, country or worlld, even if they are non-human, we most likely see their essence in people we know, wish to know (or not know), or whom we encounter in our daily lives.
We can find the essence, the idea, of characters in family members, co-workers, neighbors, fellow commuters, casual encounters, public figures, news and media. People watching (but not stalking, of course) . As writers, we look at people and see them - we notice mannerisms, the way they walk, if they look furtive, lost in thought, aggressive, happy. And as mystery writers, we wonder why or why not, what are they plotting, what can we have them plot or plan?
 Family members offer a plethora of possibilities. Does your significant other have a quirk, something that annoys you and may provide a clue (or miscue) to solving (or creating) your puzzle. That's a creative starting point for adding depth to your sleuth or perhaps one of the suspects. Now, everyone is unique, so we don't want to just caricature or describe in detail a family member's quirks verbatim when drawing our character. Remember we're not writing a biography, and, if the character is a mirror image of a family member, it could cause some problems at home. So, if he pulls on his ear when trying to hide something, instead have your character blink. This also helps to focus on your (and the other characters') reactions to that quirk, as you see it happen in your mind's eye and can vividly show your own (and your character's) perception of and reaction to that quirk.
Similarly, co-workers, friends and acquaintances offer mannerisms, appearance, maybe a mask of makeup, impeccable (or sloppy) attire, an arrogant sneer (I know, cliche, but a starting point for the imagination).
Public figures and people in the news are fun to imagine. Again, we go past the cliches and see the mannerism, hear the voice, and show it in a character, in how the character reacts to the situation he/she is caught up in. For example, we find a body that appears to have been bludgeoned with a tire iron in a warehouse with an empty gun near his hand and uneven footsteps, one foot dragging in spilled oil, away from the body. Appears to be the same criminal who had robbed several manufacturing facilities in the area. Even without blood, the initial impression is that the perp was shot and limping away. Then we meet the shop foreman, wearing khaki shorts, complaining about the arthritis that always flares up in the summer heat (just like your co-worker who says his/her typing errors are the result of carpal tunnel). We've created another possibility, another suspect for this particular crime.
Once we've created our characters and placed them in the puzzle, following clues and miscues until the puzzle is solved, we go back (yes, editing and re-visit our sleuth, our suspects, to assure that they remain consistent in their quirks or mannerisms. For example, if your perp ends up being the warehouse manager with an arthritic left knee, make sure it's not the right knee in a couple of scenes. If your sleuth has short blond hair, he doesn't grow brown hair with a bald spot in a scene or two.
In keeping our eyes, our ears open, we create vivid and believable characters that we can see and engage in our mind's eye, each unique, perhaps even memorable. Characters with perosnality that we know and our readers will want to know as they seek to solve the puzzle one step ahead of the sleuth (a real 'character' him/herself).
Now, let's do a bit of sleuthing ^_^
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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I invite you now to engage the following mysteries by members of our WDC Community. First, we examine the essence, the becoming of a sleuth, then we see a number of them in action, and do take a moment to let the writers know how they've engaged you. Finally, why not reveal one of your own to solve a puzzle/mystery in a challenge that invites vivid, memorable characters
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Thank you for sharing this exploration with me. I hope you have fun with some people-watching and find in both friends and strangers some ideas or clues to engage your characters - and readers
Until we next meet -
Seek ever clues,
distill with care;
weave a puzzle, in prose
or verse; a fun challenge
for your readers
to explore and share.
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Mystery: September 19, 2012 Issue [#5264]
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